Builds $500 1992 FJ80 "Eyesore" Rebuild (1 Viewer)

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Small update:

I had a mid-week work event scheduled for 8:30am in Little Rock. So instead of getting up early and driving 3 hours to hit rush hour traffic, I proposed we leave the day beforehand and camp. Turns out, Maumelle has a nice campground area alongside the river. Husband then got to check out the sights at Pinnacle Mountain while my morning was tied up.

I also ordered new DEPO headlights on eBay. The reflective coating in the stock headlights is toast and causes poor light output. So hopefully the new headlight housings will help.

 

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We stayed at a rental cabin with friends this weekend near Byrd's Adventure Center. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to tackle the park's off-road trails, but did find some nearby forest roads that provided scenery and a few light technical obstacles. One friend recently completed a 1UZ swap in his 2nd gen 4Runner and was eager to test it out. While our other friend recently fixed the 4WD in his 4th gen 4Runner and is getting the basics down.

We made it back in time to smoke a tri-tip, enjoy some drinks, and put on a movie. Good times.

Mechanically, the Land Cruiser has been great and we cannot complain. But it's shown us a few more things that need to be addressed.

The speedo died on the way back from our last outing, so husband has been using a speedometer app on his phone in the meantime. We're hoping to diagnose the issue on a warmer day in the coming weeks. We think either the speedo cable broke & fell out or the speed sensor died. It also lost a caliper bolt on the way home yesterday, causing the caliper to move & make contact with the inside of the wheel. Fortunately, the mounting bolts for the front tow hooks are the same size (17mm) and fine thread pitch. So those with a couple washers work great for a trail-side replacement.

We're also going to see if the shop near my work can press in new radius arm bushings for us.

 

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A few more pics from the weekend:

 

[Speedytech7]

Well this was a fun read! Thanks for the updates! Good taste in vehicles too (I'll forgive the saab) I also had a Z31, loved that thing.

 

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Well this was a fun read! Thanks for the updates! Good taste in vehicles too (I'll forgive the saab) I also had a Z31, loved that thing.

Ha. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the read.

I've had that Z31 for 13 years. It's the garage queen, but has earned that spot with all the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into it. It's due for some work in the near future (upgraded turbo, cams, heads), but is a blast on drives and local events in its current form.

 

[Speedytech7]

Ha. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the read.

I've had that Z31 for 13 years. It's the garage queen, but has earned that spot with all the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into it. It's due for some work in the near future (upgraded turbo, cams, heads), but it's a blast on drives and local events in its current form.

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That's a really nice GLL, I miss mine still. Was a good touring car, rode great, had enough power for getting around.

 

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That's a really nice GLL, I miss mine still. Was a good touring car, rode great, had enough power for getting around.

Very clean kouki! They're great cars and somehow still remain fairly unappreciated. So I'm always happy to find another Z31 enthusiast.

 

[Speedytech7]

Very clean kouki! They're great cars and somehow still remain fairly unappreciated. So I'm always happy to find another Z31 enthusiast.

I don't want to muddy up your thread too much but my friends and I are all Z31 people and even briefly held a record together for the highest horsepower stock bottom end VG33 (643hp and 655ft lb tq)

This is the new setup we are building to come for the record again...

 

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I don't want to muddy up your thread too much but my friends and I are all Z31 people and even briefly held a record together for the highest horsepower stock bottom end VG33 (643hp and 655ft lb tq)

This is the new setup we are building to come for the record again...

Very nice! I haven't been as active in the Z31 community in the last 4 years, but I remember a handful of Z31 owners in that part of Washington. The intake manifold and FF headers look familiar too. Best of luck in getting that record again!

Ours was modified as a backroad driver. It's primarily used for fun cruises and guided drives now, so handling and response are most important. I've had a mild set of Isky cams, Microsquirt ECU & harness, and more sitting around for too long. It's hard to tear them apart something when they run and drive so well.

 

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Back on track. The weather has mostly been cold and gross up until recently. So we're making use of it the best we can.

We took advantage of one misty morning to meet up with a few friends and check out a nearby trail that is part of the Trans America Trail. No trail pics unfortunately.. It was muddy and the rock steps were slippery, so I didn't want to get out of the car.

We stopped for lunch at a small pizza joint in Mountainburg. I highly recommend the Pizza Den if you're in the area.

New bluetooth battery monitor installed. This lets us monitor the house battery's voltage from from a phone app.

Husband has also been on the hunt for a set of covers for these Hella 7" lights. Unfortunately we haven't had any luck, so protective yellow film it is in the meantime. He also swapped out one of the spotlights for a driving light.